Past . . . . Present . . . . Email . . . .Notes . . . .Profile
|
2007-02-27 - 1:56 a.m. Dear Friends,A couple of weeks ago, while I was visiting my mother in Texas, it came to our attention that there is a detention facility in Taylor, Texas holding women and children. My mom had given a speech about the orphans she cares for in Romania to local group in Georgetown, Texas, and after her speech one of the men told her that children are being unjustly imprisoned right here in America, and asked her to do what she could to help them. That afternoon, Thursday February 9, my mother and I drove to Taylor, Texas and visited the T. Don Hutto Residential Center for ourselves. We spoke with the Chaplain and the spokesman of the facility, and they confirmed that there are 500 immigrants detained at the facility, over half of which are children. They told us that families are held here while they wait to be deported, or while their paperwork is processed for them to remain legally in the country. We happened to run into some ACLU lawyers in the parking lot and asked them what they knew about the facility. They told us that their clients are being held there because their visas had expired. The families had been rousted out of their homes in the middle of the night by men with guns brought to the prison while still wearing their pajamas. Because they were not allowed to bring anything with them, even the children were issued prison garb to wear. They told us that the men are being held in a separate facility, and that the prisoners at the T. Don Hutto Residential center are all women and children. They told us that the mothers and children are kept in prison cells 20 hours a day and that the facility is run exactly like a prison. Recently, due to public protests, a playground was built for the children in the outdoor area. But the lawyer we spoke to said that few children are allowed on the playground, and only for 30 minutes per day. The child in the family she represented had never been allowed to visit the playground. Folks, this “residential center” or “detention facility” is actually a maximum security prison. The chaplain told us that he and the other employees have worked in their same jobs since the prison opened 20 years ago. And little in the operation of the facility appears to have changed since women and children came to the facility 6 months ago. I would also like to point out that many of the children kept at this prison were born in America and are American citizens. Regardless of the legal status of their parents, or whether their parents have broken the law, the children are innocent, and deserve to have an education, and their freedom. I am writing this to let you know about these imprisoned children, and to urge you to read more about it and take action: Please please please write your congressmen. Here are some articles I found: From CBS news on Feb 22: From Alter-Net on Feb 22: From the Houston Chronicle on Feb 17: From a blog Hope and Onions, on Feb 25: From the San Antonio Current on Feb 13: From Austin’s The Daily Texan on Feb. 9: From Latina Lista, a Latin-American blog site, on Dec 19 If you live in Texas and you’d like to get involved in protesting the facility, please join Texans United for Families. E-mail me and I will send you their contact phone numbers. Thank you for reading this. Please feel free to contact me. Love, |
